AEHF Wraps-Up Operational Testing

Air
Force Space Command completed Advanced Extremely High Frequency military
satellite communication system operational test and evaluation, paving the way
for AEHF’s initial operational capability, officials announced. Once data from
the six-month intensive evaluation is analyzed AFSPC “will decide whether the
AEHF system has reached initial operational capability," said 4th Space
Operations Squadron Operations Director Lt. Col. Zachary Owen, in a Feb. 10 release.
Tests included proving the AEHF constellation could be controlled by a mobile
control center separate from Schriever AFB, Colo., as well as integrating with
the legacy Milstar satcom system, according to officials. Cyber aggressors also
probed AEHF’s network security and Air Force Operational Test and Evaluation
Center personnel visited representative joint-service and allied users
including Britain, Canada, and the Netherlands to assure end-user access
worldwide. "For the first time ever, we tested the nuller and
scintillation capability of the satellites," said Maj. Matthew Collins,
AFOETC Det. 4 director. These components give AEHF "the unique capability …
to be able to operate in a contested environment” as well as a nuclear war
scenario, he added.